This invention relates to a method of handling at least two containers simultaneously with the loading device of a vehicle, which is equipped with at least one engaging means (i.e. a hook) for engaging with a least one grasping component (i.e. a hook bar) at the front end of the container and for lifting the container onto a vehicle and unloading it therefrom. The invention also relates to a combination made up of at least two containers, wherein each container is provided with at least one hook bar and can be handled separately by the vehicle's load handling system (LHS). As is , e.g. from British Patent (EP) No. 107892 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,013, a LHS is equipped with at least one hook for engaging with a hook bar at the front end of the container for moving the container on and off vehicle.
Various garbage collection systems are known wherein the garbage is compressed by using a piston. The garbage container is located in the garbage transport vehicle. Small garbage bins located at houses are emptied into the collecting container in the vehicle and the garbage is compressed. The collecting containers can be handled in the same way as exchangeable platforms. Collecting vehicles equipped with compressing equipment are used for short journeys between houses and separate highway transporting vehicles are used for transporting the collecting garbage containers to a dumping area or to a garbage treatment plant. Collecting vehicles moving between houses are advantageous for handling relatively short exchangeable platforms. However such short exchangeable platforms, the length of which may be 3 m, cannot be handled by the LHS of bigger vehicles which are intended for handling platforms of an approximate length of 6 m. For longer distance transportation it would be more advantageous to use bigger units.
A known LHS is described in the Finnish printed patent specification 63350. This LHS is a so-called hook-type device. It has an L-shaped member pivoting around a transverse shaft. A hook is located at the free end of the L-shaped member,
A method is known previously of loading two or several exchangeable containers or platforms or pallets into a longer exchangeable platform or exchangeable platform frame, which is provided with a hook bar. The truck's LHS engages with the hook bar of the longer exchangeable platform which acts as a supporting base, and moves it onto the truck for transportation.
It is further known to connect rigidly together two sea containers end-to-end at their corner castings. In this known arrangement separate locking means are used which are attached manually in between the containers. The container combination is then handled by a fork truck so that its forks support the containers from below.
The method according to this invention is characterised in that two containers, which can be handled separately by loading equipment and the end of which are to be placed against each other and are provided with at least one connecting means, are connected together, and thus connected the containers are moved onto a vehicle or removed from a vehicle as one unit by making the hook of the loading equipment engage with the hook bar of the foremost container. The exchangeable platform of the invention is characterised in that the container ends, which are to be fitted against each other, are provided with at least one connecting means which can be used for connecting the containers together so that the combination formed by the containers can be handled by the loading equipment as one unit. The connecting means preferably comprises a locking component of a locking means attached to one container and a counterpart of the locking means attached to the other container. The locking component has a locking means which can be moved from a closed position to an opened position and which can be opened with the aid of a means attached to the other container when pushing the containers against one another, and which is in the closed position when the containers are against one another.
In such a system according to this aspect of the invention no such separate bases are needed onto which the containers would be lifted, nor any loose additional connectors for connecting the containers together. The longer exchangeable container formed according to the invention can be lifted into a vehicle equipped with a suitable LHS. If required it can be moved from the vehicle onto a full trailer.
The containers can be connected to each other simply by reversing the vehicle into position, whereby the vehicle pushes the container on the vehicle towards the other one and the opened locking means of the connecting means will close automatically. For connecting, the driver of the vehicle need not leave the cab of the vehicle.
A container of length of e.g. 3 m. can be connected to a garbage collecting vehicle by a small LHS. Such a short container is light to move, and can be used in a housing estate for collecting garbage. When two containers are connected together in accordance with the invention, a resulting composite container is formed of an approximate length of 6 m. This can be moved onto a 3-axle truck using a conventional LHS. Such a unit corresponds in terms of dimensions to a typical transporting unit for heavy 3-axle vehicles.
Two double containers can be transported by a full trailer combination so that one 6 m. unit is on the towing vehicle while the other is on the full trailer. The first double unit is loaded onto the trailer by using the hook-type exchange platform device of the towing vehicle by first lifting it on the vehicle into a horizontal position and then pushing it onto the trailer of the vehicle. The other double unit is then lifted onto the vehicle using the same hook-type exchange platform device. Even two double containers can be loaded onto a longer trailer one after the other so that one is loaded from the leading end of the trailer and the other from the rear end. In this way very large transport units are achieved for longer transportations.